Tata Tele leads mobile user addition with 3.3 mn in Dec
Tata Teleservices has emerged as the number one operator in terms of subscriber addition for the fifth consecutive time by adding 3.3 million subscribers in December 2009.
However, the dual technology (GSM and CDMA) service provider stated that the company has become the number one telecom operator in India in December.
Tata Teleservices gained 1.65% and closed at Rs 27.8 on BSE.
Meanwhile today, the BSE Sensex closed down by 191.46 points, or 1.12% at 16859.68.
The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 28.05, as against the 52-week high of Rs.41.8. The stock hit a low of Rs 25.25 during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs. 18.70 on March 12, 2009. On BSE, 1228643 shares were traded in the counter.
Tata Teleservices has an equity capital of Rs 1897.19 crore as on March 2009. The face value per share is Rs 10. At the closing price of Rs 27.8, book Value of -1.94 and P/BV at -14.32.
The company has overtaken BSNL to become the fifth largest telecom firm in terms of subscriber additions, with over 57 million subscribers as on December 2009.
TTSL’’s GSM service DoCoMo brand coupled with its CDMA brand (Tata Indicom) pay-per-second billing system have catapulted the subscriber base of the company.
Earlier Idea Cellular had replaced BSNL from number four position while BSNL has 5.72 crore wireless subscribers.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel, India’’s number one telecom operator in terms of mobile subscriber base has added 2.8 million subscribers in the same period.
It is the market leader with 118.8 million subscribers while in total mobile user base Bharti Airtel is followed by Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, TTSL and BSNL.
Tata Teleservices, however, has added 3,336,476 new subscribers in December 2009 from its CDMA and GSM operations put together.
On the other hand, in November 2009 also, TTSL had showed a healthy growth in new additions, with 3,329,215 new subscribers being added.
Previously, Tata Indicom has announced the launch of 2 power packed recharge vouchers namely RCV 201 and RCV 2010.
Priced at Rs.201 and Rs.2,010, both vouchers have free talk time while the vouchers will be available till January 10.
Moreover, Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) launched Photon TV for information and entertainment access on the move on its wireless net access product Photon.
It is an exciting new application that allows Tata Photon Plus subscribers to watch live television channels on their laptops while on the move and on their personal computers at home and in the office.
However, earlier, Tata Teleservices said it has become the top grosser of subscribers for the third consecutive month, with over 3.8 million new mobile users in October while Tata Teleservices, which is credited for starting per second billing for subscribers, has added 3.8 million users in October from its CDMA and GSM operations put together.
Meanwhile, Tata DoCoMo extended its per-second-billing scheme to roaming calls, intensifying the tariff war in India’’s fast growing wireless telecom market and with Tata DoCoMo ready to launch its GSM services pan-India this year, this game-changing roaming option will be available across India.
Tata Teleservices pioneered the per-second-billing scheme that stepped up competition among peers who followed the per-minute billing norm while the move aims to redefine the concept of making calls while ”roaming” in India, much as Tata DoCoMo’’s per-second billing offer did for local and long-distance calls a few months ago.
Regarding the financial performance, for quarter ended September 2009, the company reported rise of 4.83% in its net sales to Rs 238.26 crores as compared to Rs 513.44 crores of corresponding period of previous year. Further, net profit of the company rose 128.02% to Rs. (107.98) crores for quarter ended September 2009.
Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) is a part of the Tata Group of companies, an Indian conglomerate. It operates under the brand name Tata Indicom in various telecom circles of India.
Idea Cellular announces un-audited results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2009
The 9 month period ending Dec”09 placed a ”double stress test” upon the Idea business model. On the one hand, the Indian telecom market, with already the world’’s lowest tariffs, witnessed savage competitive price cuts during this period. Consequently, Idea incurred an erosion in average realised rate per minute (ARR) to 51p in the quarter ending Dec”09, down ~15%, in just 9 months. As a second stress point, Idea rolled out operations in 7 new service areas during this 9 month period, thereby absorbing an incremental EBITDA loss of Rs 1,920 mn for these brand-new launches, and correspondingly higher loss at the PAT level. Despite these double stresses, for the first nine months of FY10, standalone PAT was up by 12.1% compared to the first 9 months of FY09, while Cash Profit of Rs 21,384 mn was up by 28.9%.
The steep QoQ ARR decline to 51p came in Q3, down from 56p in Q2. Notwithstanding, Idea still increased its revenue and EBITDA in the established 11 service areas by 4.2% (Rs. 1,139 mn) and 4.4% (Rs. 354 mn) respectively over the last quarter. The EBITDA margin for these 11 service areas also remained unchanged from the previous quarter at ~ 30%. Standalone PAT, even after absorbing the losses from new launches, has declined only by Rs 554 mn in Q3 over Q2, despite a one time income of Rs 317 mn in Q2, and an incremental charge of Rs 179 mn in Q3 on account of ESOP re-pricing. Cash profit for Q3 stood at Rs 6,983 mn. On a standalone basis, the total minutes on network grew by 14.9% on a QoQ basis, a strong indicator of customer preference
Results, both for Q3 FY10, and for YTD Q3FY10, speak of the enormous robustness and resilience of the company’’s business model, to emerge stress-tested and battle ready. The financial results are also an indication that any future competitive price cuts will only hasten the expected sector shake-out.
With the launch of operations in J&K, West Bengal, Kolkata, Assam and NESA during the quarter, the company is now a pan India operator, which also means that the peak funding period for 2G operations, is now behind. The balance sheet of the company, with a net debt of only Rs. 37,460 mn against a net-worth of Rs 141,181 mn as of Dec”09, together with an average cash generation of around Rs. 7,000 mn per quarter, provides a solid base to support future investment and any level of competitive pressure going forward.
Improving capacity utilization and operational efficiencies, the leveraging of spectrum and scale advantage in incumbent areas, a calibrated approach for new areas, sophisticated processes, brand power, and a strong balance sheet, position Idea to emerge competitively stronger during and after the current difficult phase of market overcapacity and hyper competition.
Notes:
1. Idea Standalone represents Idea, and its 100% subsidiaries, includirg the ABTL service area of Bihar. Effectively, this encompasses all operations, excluding Spice and Indus.
2. Idea Consolidated represents Idea, its 100% subsidiaries, and its JVs, grouped together. In addition to Idea standalone, this covers the proportionate consolidation of Indus (16%), and Spice (41.09% w.e.f. October 16, 2008).
3. 11 Service Areas represent Maharashtra & Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Kerala, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh West & Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh East, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh service area.
4. New Service Areas represents Mumbai, Bihar, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, J&K, Kolkata, West Bengal, Assam and North East Service Areas.
5. Cash profit includes add back of non-cash charge on account of ESOP. Previous period figures have also been restated accordingly.
6. Figures of past periods have been regrouped, wherever necessary..
Tech Mahindra announces Q3 results
Tech Mahindra Ltd has announced the following Audited results for the quarter ended December 31, 2009:
The Company has posted a profit after tax of Rs 1657.90 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 as compared to Rs 2149.00 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. Total Income has increased from Rs 10613.60 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 to Rs 11558.40 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.
The Audited Consolidated Results are as follows
The Group has posted a profit after tax of Rs 1727.80 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 as compared to Rs 2228.70 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. Total Income has increased from Rs 10925.40 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 to Rs 11878.70 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.
Sasken Communication Technologies Joins Open Handset Alliance
Sasken Communication Technologies Limited a leading provider of Telecommunication solutions today announced that it is has joined the
expensive, and better mobile experience. As a member of the Open Handset Alliance, Sasken Communication Technologies Limited, will work with other member companies to enable launch of differentiated devices and user experiences through its unique combination of consultancy & services in both hardware and software and also bring its software products to the Android platform.
Working across the Value chain for devices with solutions being delivered through its various proximity centers in Mexico, Finland, Germany, USA, China and Korea, Sasken brings to the alliance not only its leadership in Hardware, Software, and System integration skills but also its portfolio of multimedia products. TK Srikanth, Vice President and Head of Portfolio management said, “Sasken is privileged to be part of the Open Handset Alliance. Sasken
solutions Lo die Android plaLforiu. Andiuid provides die ideal pladuiiu fur Ritli media
consumption and a differentiated user experience* which is already shaping the nature of
these devices. We are already working with leading members of the community and the
membership to the Open Handset Alliance strengthens our position to serve the community
better and enable these experiences.”
GAIL completes route survey for Dabhol-Bengaluru pipeline
GAIL (India) Limited has completed the route survey for its 1400 Km Dabhol – Bengaluru gas pipeline project for supplying natural gas to Karnataka. This was informed to the Hon”ble Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri B S Yeddyurappa, Shri S V Rangnath, the Chief Secretary, Shri K. Jairaj, the Additional Chief Secretary, Energy and other senior officials of Government of Karnataka by Shri B C Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India) Limited, when he called on this morning. Mr. Tripathi also handed over a cheque for Rs. 2 crore for flood relief in Karnataka to the Hon”ble Chief Minister.
GAIL has completed the route survey of the total length of the pipeline network and the tendering process for line pipe procurement will start shortly. The High level clearance committee of the Karnataka Government has already accorded approval for the pipeline projects and the Government of Karnataka has nominated Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation (KSIIDC) as nodal agency for facilitating the acquisition of land for Dabhol- Bengaluru Pipeline project. GAIL has already applied for various crossing permissions for laying the pipeline and will set up a Regional Gas Management Centre at Bengaluru for distribution and supply of the gas business through this pipeline.
GAIL is currently implementing 1,389 km, 30 inch diameter Dabhol-Bengaluru pipeline at an investment of Rs. 4543.43 crore with a design capacity of 16 MMSCMD. In part A of the first phase, 402 km pipeline will be laid from Dabhol to Gokak along with spurlines to Belgaum and Goa at an estimated investment of Rs. 1593.47 crore and is scheduled to be completed by 2011-12.In part B of the phase I, 570 km pipeline will be laid from Gokak to Bengaluru (KPCL, Bidadi) along with spur lines / feeder lines to Bengaluru at an estimated investment of Rs. 2,463.91 crore and is scheduled to be completed by 2011-12 / 2012-13. In phase II of the project, 417 km spur lines / feeder lines will be laid to Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Sangali, Bijapur, Dharwad, Devangere, Harihar and Tumkur at an estimated investment of Rs. 486.05 crore and is scheduled to be completed by 2012-13 / 2013-14.
Dish TV fixes Record Date
Dish TV India Ltd has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on January 22, 2010 has fixed February 05, 2010 as the record date for the purpose of determining the shareholders eligible for payment of Rs. 8 per equity share (comprising of Re. 0.25 per share towards share capital and the balance of Rs. 7.75 towards the premium), towards the Second and final call amount on the partly paid up equity shares allotted pursuant to the Rights Issue of the Company.
Grasim Industries announces Q3 results
Grasim Industries Ltd has announced the following Unaudited results for the quarter ended December 31, 2009:
The Company has posted a net profit of Rs 5958.80 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 where as the same was at Rs 3295.60 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. Total Income is Rs 31406.50 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 where as the same was at Rs 27400.20 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008.
The Unaudited Consolidated Results are as follows
The Group has posted a net profit of Rs 7153.20 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 where as the same was at Rs 4595.50 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. Total Income is Rs 49146.60 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 where as the same was at Rs 46829.40 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008.
- The Results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2009 are not strictly comparable with those of the corresponding periods of the previous year, owing to: (a) sale of the Sponge Iron unit on May 22, 2009 and (b) the results of Idea Cellular Ltd. being consolidated as a Joint Venture in the corresponding periods of the previous year, whereas w.e.f. January 01, 2009, the same is being consolidated as an Associate.
Mundra Port Board to consider Interim Dividend
With reference to the earlier announcement regarding Q3 results on January 28, 2010, Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd has now informed that the said Board Meeting will inter alia consider and declare interim Dividend for the year 2009-10.
Further the Company has informed that, February 04, 2010 has been fixed as the Record Date for the purpose of payment of interim dividend, if any declared by the Board of Directors.
NMDC, Tata Steel sign MoU on possible alliances
With a perspective to study the prospect of a strategic alliance, NMDC Ltd. and Tata Steel have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for acquisition, exploration and development of mines and setting up of integrated steel plants.
Mr. Rana Som, Chairman & Managing Director of NMDC and Mr. H M Nerurkar, Managing Director of Tata Steel signed the MoU.
Mr. Som said the MoU between the two companies is a historic milestone and soon both the companies are going to turn into a joint venture company.
He said at first, the two companies would form a working group to investigate and finalise the areas of cooperation and submit its report to the steering committee. After which a decision would be taken in regards to the formation of a joint venture.
However, the working group would decide about the equity structure and would also depend on the areas that the two companies were going to operate.
Mr. Nerurkar said in the current situation, where the country’’s steel policy predicted of doubling the capacity of steel-making over the next decade, an opportunity has arrived for both the companies to work together towards this goal.
He said Tata Steel and NMDC have intended to jointly address mining and steel-making opportunities.
Indian Stock Market Post Session Report, Dated 19/01/2010
After the yesterday’s gains, the domestic market today plunged sharply to close in red terrain on intense profit booking. Depressing cues from the European markets weighed on the sentiments. Concern ahead of a flurry of US corporate earnings over the next few days also contributed to the downward journey. Benchmark indices exhibited volatility and moved between positive and negative zone earlier during the trading session. However, stocks recovered a bit during mid trade along with rise in US index futures. Meanwhile, Barclays Capital said that the inflation is likely to rise to at least 9% by March, prompting the central bank to raise the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points. BSE Sensex ended below 17,500 level and NSE Nifty ended below 5,250 mark.
Market opened on flat note today tracking mixed cues from Asian markets. The U.S. markets were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Further, Indian benchmark indices turned volatile and continued to trade weak on sustained selling over the counters. The profit booking across the selective indices led the benchmark indices to tumble down further. The investors were taking calculative steps to book their positions. However, market managed to gain some ground during afternoon trade tracking gains in US index futures, before slipping again. Going ahead, stocks extended losses and nosedived during final trading backed by strong selling pressure due to negative global cues. From the sectoral front, most of the selling was observed in Realty, IT, Pharma, Oil & Gas, Teck and Power stocks. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also remained under pressure. However, Consumer Durable and Bank stocks remained in limelight as witnessed most of the buying from these baskets.
Among the Sensex pack 23 stocks ended in red territory and 7 in green. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market remained negative as 1828 stocks closed in red while 1112 stocks closed in green and 54 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.
The BSE Sensex closed lower by 155.02 points or (0.88%) at 17,486.06 and NSE Nifty ended down by 49.20 points or (0.93%) at 5,225.65. BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap closed with losses of 44.84 and 50.69 points 7,045.91 and 8,976.09 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 17,664.86 and intraday low of 17,463.78.
Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are ACC Ltd (3.09%), Hindalco (2.63%), TCS Ltd (2.38%), Grasim Industries (2.34%), RCom (2.02%), JP Associates (1.87%), HDFC (1.86%), DLF Ltd (1.82%), Herohonda Motors (1.63%), Sun Pharma (1.62%), Infosys (1.60%), NTPC (1.60%) and M&M Ltd (1.52%).
Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are BHEL (0.86%), SBI (0.76%), HDFC Bank (0.61%) and Sterlite Industries (0.24%).
On the economic front, Barclays Capital said that the inflation is likely to rise to at least 9% by March as prices of food and manufactured goods are on the upswing, prompting the central bank to raise the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points.
On the global markets front, the Asian markets that opened before the Indian market, ended mixed. Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng and Singapore’s Straits Times ended higher by 9.78, 217.97 and 0.90 points at 3,246.87, 21,677.98 and 2,912.92 respectively. However, Nikkei 225, Seoul Composite and Taiwan Weighted lost 90.18, 1.56 and 88.92 points at 10,764.90, 1,710.22 and 8,249 respectively. Online revenue generated in China increased by more than 30% to 74.3bn yuan ($10.9bn) in 2009, a research firm has said.
European markets, which opened after the Indian market, are trading negative. In Paris, CAC 40 is lower by 37.77 points at 3,939.69. Going ahead, in Frankfurt DAX index is down by 58.83 points 5,59.72 and in London FTSE 100 trading with losses of 59.61 points at 5,434.78.
The BSE Realty index ended at 4,006.91 lower by 71.25 points or by (1.75%). The main losers were Sobha Dev (3.88%), Peninsula Land (3.41%), Unitech Ltd (2.90%), Ansal Prop (2.51%) and Anant Raj (2.35%).
The BSE IT index was at 5,342.79 down by 91.25 points or by (1.68%). The main losers were Aptech Ltd (2.92%), Moser Bayer (2.59%), Patni Computer (2.53), TCS Ltd (2.38%) and Rolta India (1.97%).
The BSE Teck index was at 3,365.41 down by 52.70 points or by (1.54%), as HT Media (6.19%), Zee Entert (5.45%), Zee News (4.15%), Himachal Futur (3.95%) and UTV Software (3.27%) ended in red.
The BSE Pharma index was at 5,062.98 lower by 79.19 points or by (1.54%). The main losers were Sun Pharma (4.89%), Dr Reddy’s Lab (3.44%), Apollo Hosp (3.21%), Orchid Chem (1.97%) and Wockhardt (1.91%).
The BSE Oil & Gas index closed at 10,531.69 down by 156.68 points or by (1.47%). The main losers were Gail India (3.01%), HPCL (2.85%), Indian Oil Corp (2.09%), BPCL (2.09%) and RNRL (1.98%).
The BSE Consumer Durable index 3,993.92 up 29.46 points or by (0.74%). The main gainers were Rajesh Exports (2.66%), Gitanjali Gems (2.22%) and Titan Inds (1.78%). Losers are Videocon Inds (1.25%), and Blue Star (0.36%).
On the corporate front, ICICI Bank ended higher by 0.01%. The bank has raised its deposit rates on select maturities and by this it became the second bank to do so this month. The bank has raised the interest rate on deposits maturing in 270 days to less than one year by 25 basis points to 5.75% for deposits in the range of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The new rates are effective from January 8.
Essar Oil lost 1.01%. The company, which is negotiating a buy out with global oil major Shell to buy two of its European refineries, is scaling back on the local front. It has decided to delay the second expansion of its refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat. According to sources, lack of funds coupled with uncertainties in global refining markets is the main reasons for the company to shelve its expansion plans.
Escorts Ltd closed up by 0.81%. The manufacturer of tractor and farm equipment is planning to enter into manufacturing of railway wagons.
NTPC slipped by 1.60% despite report that it plans to set up about 6,000 megawatts of capacity by 2017 to generate electricity that will be sold at market rates to boost revenue.
Godfrey Phillips India surged 1.31%, as it has made its way into the pan masala segment. The company has launched Pan Vilas, a magnesium carbonate free chewing product. The company is targeting 5% share of the premium pan masala market in the first year of its launch.
NMDC spurted 5.66% on buzz that it is in talks with Arcelor Mittal, the world’’s largest steel maker, to set up a joint venture steel plant in Karnataka.
HT Media deteriorated 6.19% despite net profit increased significantly 135.5% to Rs. 18.42 crore in Q3FY10 over Q3FY09.